In an effort to accommodate the diverse (e.g., voice and data signaling) requirements of a variety of telecommunication service providers and their customers, manufacturers of digital communication equipment currently offer what are known as integrated access devices (IADs), that allow a user to interface multiple types of digital voice and data signaling circuits with a (wide area) network. Unfortunately, current IAD designs are constrained by the lack or limited availability of reasonably priced and versatile communication control processors.
A fundamental shortcoming of these conventional controller chips is the fact that they are digital signal processor (DSP)-based, consume large amounts of power, and are procurable from essentially one semiconductor fabrication source. Being DSP-based means that the functionality of an IAD using such control chips is heavily dependent on embedded software. In addition, these chips have only a small number voice and data interface ports, which are typically permanently dedicated to specified signaling modes, thereby limiting their flexibility and efficiency in the face of dynamic signaling requirements.